


remembering is worth it

by sapphicmoonshine (FeralKyanma)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Canon, Disgustingly sweet, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Genderqueer Tsukishima Kei, Gift Giving, Inspired by Real Events, Inspired by my parents, Kenma uses they/them pronouns, M/M, Multi, Nonbinary Akaashi Keiji, Nonbinary Kozume Kenma, Nonbinary Yamaguchi Tadashi, POV Yamaguchi Tadashi, Polyamory, Rare Pairings, Surprises, Tsukishima Kei Likes Dinosaurs, Tsukishima uses s/he/they pronouns, University Student Yamaguchi Tadashi, Yamaguchi Tadashi is a Good Significant Other, Yamaguchi uses they/them pronouns, akaashi uses they/them pronouns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:49:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29976258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralKyanma/pseuds/sapphicmoonshine
Summary: Yamaguchi enlists Kenma’s help and buys Tsukki an expensive figurine that he’s wanted since he was little.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou/Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi, Kozume Kenma/Yamaguchi Tadashi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	remembering is worth it

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by my parents. happy anniversary <3

Tadashi was twelve the first day Kei brought up the figurine. 

It was in passing, a throwaway comment to most people as Kei ranted about different figurines and toys (where the topic had come from, neither of them were sure; they had started talking about the new flowers Kei’s mom was growing in the backyard). 

“Yeah, there’s been this one dinosaur figure that I’ve wanted since I was little, but Kaa-san always said it was _way~_ too expensive, so I never bought it,” he threw out, and to the untrained ear, it would sound casual and dismissive. 

But Tadashi knew better, knew that, underneath the layers, Kei still really wanted that figurine. 

Tadashi filed away the knowledge for later. 

After that, Kei never brought it up again. Years stretched by, both Kei and Tadashi growing. For a period of time, they were even convinced that Tadashi would sneak up to Kei’s height, as a certain olive-haired individual sprouted and grew like a weed. To Kei’s relief and Tadashi’s disappointment, Tadashi slowed down just before they reached high school, remaining a steady twenty centimeters shorter than Kei.

It never escaped Tadashi’s notice that Kei kept a close eye on Tadashi’s height charts, even after the doctor confirmed that Tadashi wouldn’t have another growth spurt for a while. 

Nor did it ever escape his notice when Kei would accidentally leave his desktop on, the tab pulled up being the same dinosaur figurine he’s brought up that one day. 

Kei hadn’t brought it up since. Not to their friends, the first years that Tadashi knew Kei was fond and protective over, despite the outward snark. Not to their brother, to whom Kei attributed his lasting fondness for dinosaurs. Not to their four new partners, the captains and setters from their rival schools in Tokyo who loved Kei just as much as Tadashi did. Not even to him. Tadashi was honestly willing to bet that Kei forgot that he’d told his childhood best friend. After all, it was a throwaway comment.

Tadashi never forgot. 

A tab on their personal laptop was always opened, dedicated to keeping an eye on the figurine’s price or possible selling locations. 

One thing held true throughout the years, though; the figurine was expensive as all hell. On a university student’s budget, Tadashi knew, realistically, that they wouldn’t be able to afford it. Hell, most of their partners probably wouldn’t be able to afford it either; they all were pitching in to help pay the bills and a house for six was admittedly not cheap.

Except for one of their partners. 

Tadashi mulled it over in their mind. Realistically, it wouldn’t be that big of an issue asking for help. Hell, Tadashi knew they would probably be able to handle the whole cost of it alone. But they were sort of protective over the tiny scrap of Kei’s past that the others didn’t know about yet. 

Plodding down the hallway of their shared home, Tadashi knocked on one of the doors, waiting for a response. 

“Come in.”

Tadashi opened the door to Kenma’s gaming room, washed in the fluorescent glow of their triple monitor system opened, not to games, but to work emails. 

“Oh, hey Tadashi,” Kenma greeted, spinning their gaming chair and greeting the other with a slightly exhausted smile (they would have to push Kenma to get some sleep afterward; the streamer had a habit of forgoing their own well-being for work). 

“Kenken, can I ask you a favor?” 

It was surprisingly easy after that; Kenma was able to locate a novelty store that sold the figurine in the area, and the two went off to buy it that same day. It was still a hefty price, but Kenma managed to distract Tadashi by sending him off to look for somewhere to get food while they paid, so Tadashi wasn’t sure exactly how much the figurine sold for. The pudding-haired streamer wouldn’t let them see the receipt afterward either, kissing Tadashi on the cheek when they pouted. 

“Consider it a gift, Starling. Now, where are we eating?” 

The weight of what Tadashi was doing didn’t actually set in until they were sitting on the edge of the bed in the blue room, clutching the black reusable bag that held the figurine tight to their chest while they waited for Kei to come home from the grocery store. They’d bought the figurine Kei had wanted for years, just like that. They weren’t even sure if Kei had wanted to buy it on his own, or if he would be upset by Tadashi’s seemingly huge gesture of affection (it wasn’t, really; they just wanted to give Kei something he’d wanted for years, simple as that). 

Their paranoia was so consuming that they missed the sound of Kei and Koutarou coming home and greeting Keiji, who had apparently been sitting on the couch in the living room. They missed the sound of Kei knocking on Kenma’s game room door and asking for Tadashi. They missed the sound of Kei knocking on the door of the blue room, and only snapped back to their senses when Kei tapped their forearm. 

Eyes snapping up, Tadashi looked at their partner. Gone were the days where Kei was self-conscious about her looks, and she looked absolutely stunning today, knocking the breath from Tadashi’s lungs. A small white bracelet dangled from her wrist, still suspended in midair from when she’d tapped on Tadashi’s arm. 

“Everything okay, Yama?” 

“When did you get home?” Kei quietly got up from where she was kneeling on the floor, brushing down her skirt as she moved to the bed next to Tadashi. “Maybe ten minutes ago?” she responded, glancing at the desk clock.

Tadashi hummed, picking at the gray bracelet on their wrist. That’s what they got for thinking themselves in circles; they’d lost all time to prepare. Before they could lose themselves in another circling thought, Kei tapped at their hand twice before grabbing it and interlacing her fingers with theirs.

“What’s in the bag, Yama?” Tadashi blinked three times, registering the question before glancing down at the bag in their arms. Right, the very reason they’d spiraled off. 

Clearing their throat, Tadashi adjusted themselves to face Kei, pointedly ignoring the pretty way her blonde curls framed her face, Kei having decided to grow them out once they’d graduated high school and-

_Focus, Tadashi!_

Before they could lose whatever concentration they had, Tadashi thrust the bag towards Kei, who startled before giving Tadashi a single raised eyebrow. 

“It’s, uh, for you. Open it,” Tadashi prompted. Giving Tadashi one last glance, Kei turned her attention to the bag, opening it and peering inside.

She gasped.

“Yama, how did you…?”

Golden eyes met olive green as Kei searched for an explanation. They chuckled, rubbing at the back of their neck. “You mentioned it once when we were little,” they explained, glee running down their spine at the shocked look that passed over Kei’s face. “I did? I don’t even remember that!” She quickly returned her attention to the bag, pulling out the box and staring at it reverently. 

“Kenma helped me, cause you and I both know that I don’t make enough money to afford more than my share of the bills and—and some extras. Actually, I don’t even know how much Kenken paid, they wouldn’t let me see the receipt,” they rambled, “but I’ve wanted to get it for you for a while now. I wasn’t sure if you were gonna buy it for yourself, but I figured it’d be a nice gift. I hope you don’t mind because I really don’t want to overstep any boundaries but you’ve been wanting it since we were super little so I—”

Kei cut off Tadashi’s rambling with a kiss, pulling them in by the collar and smashing their lips together. Tadashi could slowly feel themselves calming down at that, feeling Kei’s appreciation bleed through the kiss until they both pulled away, panting quietly into each other’s space. 

“Come help me assemble it?” 

“Of course, Tsukki.” 

They end up assembling it in the living room, amongst all their partners casually walking around the main floor. The two of them were quite hard to ignore as well, with Kei excitedly rambling off facts about the figurine and the dinosaur species it modeled loud enough to be heard from the kitchen. Kenma joined them at some point and was helping Kei put the legs together while Tadashi toiled away over the tail, Keiji watching them from the couch with the instruction manual in their hands. After about an hour of confused noises and double-checks towards the manual in Keiji’s hand, Kei held the finished figurine in her hands, adorably gushing over how cool it was while Tadashi and Kenma got up to stretch. From the edge of the living room, Tadashi could see Tetsurou filming Kei, a fond smile on his face as they made their way over and pecked them on the cheek. 

“Welcome home, Tetsu,” they mumbled, wrapping their arms around his waist and feeling the other’s hand settle on their hip. “Hey, Starling,” he greeted back, placing a kiss on the top of Tadashi’s head. 

“Where’s Kou?” Tetsurou tilted his head back, gesturing towards the kitchen where the faint sounds of sizzling food could be heard. They watched Kei gush to Keiji over the figure for a little longer before Tetsurou broke the silence again. 

“What’s the deal with the figurine?” 

Tadashi grinned, eyes sparkling now that their worries were appeased. “Kei’s wanted that figure since we were little, but she only mentioned it once, when we were twelve.” 

Whistling appreciatively, Tetsurou tightened his grip on Tadashi’s hip. “That’s a long time to remember something like that, Starling.” 

Tadashi nodded. The throwaway remark about the figurine was definitely not something most people would remember, or even note. If Kei had truly wanted it, they would have gotten it for themselves eventually. But, recalling the way Kei’s eyes had shone when she’d opened the bag, and the blissful glee that marked her every word now? Tadashi smiled. 

Remembering was worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/spphicmoonshine?s=20)!


End file.
